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ANSWERS 

so 

SEVENTEEN OBJECTIONS 



AGAINST 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE 



AND 



INQUIRIES RELATING TO THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE 
PRESENT TIME. 



BY JOHN S. ADAMS. 



M Behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a 
marvellous work and a wonder : for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, 
and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." — Isaiah 29 : 14. 

"Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the proph- 
ets ; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish : for I work a work in your 
dayB, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto 
you." — Acts 13: 40,41. • 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY FOWLERS AND WELLS, 181 NASSAU ST. 

BOSTON : 142 WASHINGTON ST. 

1853. 

Price Twenty-five Cents. In Cloth, Thirty-eight Cts. 



ANSWERS 



SEVENTEEN OBJECTIONS 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE 



INQUIRIES RELATING TO THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE 
PRESENT TIME. 



BY JOHN S. ADAMS. 



" Behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a 
marvellous work and a wonder : for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, 
and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." — Isaiah 29 : 14. 

" Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the proph- 
ets ; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish : for I work a work in your 
days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto 
you." — Acts 13 : 40, 41. 




NEW YORK 
PUBLISHED BY FOWLERS AND WELLS, TM~£ 
BOSTON : 142 WASHINGTON ST. 
1853. 







Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 

John S. Adams, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



TO THE PUBLIC. 



This volume is presented not as an account of manifestations, 
but as a consideration of the arguments urged against the truth 
of their spiritual origin. Nearly twenty of the principal, involv- 
ing many minor objections, are reviewed. Much more might be 
said, but it is hoped enough is herein given to lead the reader to a 
fair examination, a just decision, and a full appreciation, of the 
subject. J. s. a. 

Chelsea, Mass, 



CONTENTS. 



PREFATORY REMARKS. 
Reasons for considering the subject, 5 

FIRST OBJECTION. 

The manifestations are produced by machinery, trickery, or de- 
ception, 10 

SECOND OBJECTION. 

The manifestations are caused by the mind or will of the medium, 
or by the mind of one, or the minds of all, acting through the 
medium, . . . . ■ ~ 15 

THIRD OBJECTION. 

The manifestations are produced by electricity, magnetism, ner- 
vousness, or some similar agency, 18 

FOURTH OBJECTION. 
The manifestations produce insanity, 26 

FIFTH OBJECTION. 

Mediumship injures health, — therefore good spirits have nothing 
to do with it, 31 

SIXTH OBJECTION. 

If these communications are from spirits, why do we receive any 
that are useless, inconsistent, and contradictory 1 34 

SEVENTH OBJECTION. 

If true, why do not public lecturers on the subject exhibit mani- 
festations 1 Why do we not have them at any time 1 37 



N\ 



CONTENTS. 



EIGHTH OBJECTION. 

When departed friends appear, why do they come with the deform- 
ities which were theirs in this life 1 When they write, why do 
they do so in that trembling, nervous style, which disease and 
age had forced upon them before they left this sphere 1 «... 39 

NINTH OBJECTION. 
If these are spirits, they must be evil spirits, 40 

TENTH OBJECTION. 

Such strange, incomprehensible doctrines, are given by these man- 
ifestations, so different from those I have commonly believed, 
that I deny their holy origin, 51 

ELEVENTH OBJECTION. 

If these are good spirits of the departed, why do they come in 
this way, and announce their presence by rapping, tipping, and 
such-like demonstrations 1 53 

TWELETH OBJECTION. 
If these are spirits, why have they not appeared before 1 .... 55 

THIRTEENTH OBJECTION. 
What good result will these manifestations produce 1 57 

FOURTEENTH OBJECTION. 
Why are some persons mediums, and not others 1 Why not all 1 . 63 

ELETEENTH OBJECTION. 
This subject leads to scepticism, and a neglect of the Bible, . , . . 65 

SIXTEENTH OBJECTION. 

The doctrine of spiritual intercourse is contrary to the Bible. 
Nothing of the kind is there related, — nothing promised, ... 69 

SEVENTEENTH OBJECTION. 

We have no need of any further revelations in regard to the spirit- 
world. The Bible contains all tbat God has intended we should 
know, and this spiritual intercourse is an unlawful prying into 
things with which we have no concern, 78 

CONCLUDING REMARKS, 83 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



PREFATORY REMARKS 

I 

REASONS FOR CONSIDERING THE SUBJECT. 

All subjects are worthy of our consideration, 
in order, that, if founded on truth, we may become 
acquainted with their principles, and have such a 
knowledge of them as will enable us to com- 
mend them to every man's conscience ; or, on the 
other hand, if false, we may have a full under- 
standing of them, so as to be fully prepared to 
oppose them, and save, not only ourselves, but our 
friends from the snares of their deception. 

The subject we are about to consider, has, 
therefore, for one of these reasons, a claim upon 
our thoughtful attention, the responsibility of 
which we cannot evade. 

To examine a subject justly, we must come 
to it with a calm, dispassionate mind : without 
prejudice inclining us for or against it. With- 
out regard to the opinions of others, we must, 
from the evidence presented, form an opinion of 
our own. This evidence must not be what this 
1* 



6 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

one says, or what that one thinks, but as authentic 
as personal observation can make it, when such 
observation can, as in the present case, be obtained. 
That it is a truth of the utmost importance, and 
worthy of our earnest adoption and efforts in its 
dissemination ; or, an error of the most dangerous 
stamp, and deserving our active and vigilant ex- 
ertions to effect its overthrow, and stay -its further 
progress, is a motive of sufficient importance to 
induce every sincere inquirer after truth, every 
well-wisher to human kind, to give it a candid 
and impartial investigation.* True or false, it is 
a subject not to be trifled with. It is spreading 
from one extremity of our Union to the other. 
Respectable, intelligent, and deeply religious fami- 
lies have been forced by undeniable evidence to 
believe it a truth. It bears too much sound evi- 
dence to be at once condemned and thrown aside. 

* Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Clark, one of the ablest clergymen of Hart- 
ford, Ct., concludes a letter as follows: " I am aware that to ascribe 
so much importance to such a subject as this, will lead those who 
know nothing about it to suspect the soundness of one's judgment, 
and it will be said that our wisest course is to ' let it alone ; it is one of 
the humbugs of the day, and will soon die of itself.' It may be so, 
but the indications do not point that way at present. Men of the high- 
est scientific reputation acknowledge themselves to be perplexed ; judg- 
es of our highest courts and of the widest experience, are personally 
identified with these phenomena; clergymen are questioned by their 
parishoners; the most important principles of our religion are called in 
question. Meanwhile, is it right for the clergy, who profess to be the 
teachers of the people, to remain silent, when they believe that souls 
committed to their charge are being lured to destruction ?" 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



With those, who, on the advent of any new 
thing, are disposed to join the vulgar cry of " hum- 
bug," and class as delusion what they cannot ex- 
plain or comprehend, I have no sympathy. The 
early history of every new discovery, and of the 
bringing to light of truths enveloped in a shroud 
woven by the bigotry and superstition of the dark 
ages, should warn us of our fallibility, and guard 
us against rash conclusions and ill-timed judgment. 

Calling anything a delusion does not make it 
such. In olden time the mass of mankind rebelled 
against newly discovered truth as they do now. 
Then, they went beyond the sneer and look of 
derision, yet the martyrdom of men of science did 
not set at naught their discoveries. A forced re- 
cantation of a belief of the earth's revolution did 
not alter the fact. And, though it was generally 
disbelieved, and those whose zeal ran mad for 
forms and creeds feared it might endanger the 
truth, yet the fact survived, and the truth survived, 
for they were one and inseparable. 

Humanity is not much different to-day from 
what it was then. There are thousands, tens of 
thousands who have adopted certain standards, 
subscribed to certain creeds which they look upon 
as perfect charters of truth. All things must adapt 
themselves to these, or they are at once condemned 
as monsters of error and the works of the devil. 



8 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

Such, are not willing to learn ; they are not wil- 
ling to examine anything that clashes with their 
preconceived opinions. Why not ? Will a fair 
investigation injure the cause of truth? Will it 
harm that which is as imperishable as the throne 
of God ? Certainly not. If the subject examined 
proves to be false, those who are convinced of 
its falsity, are but the more firmly established in 
their own views ; while, on the other hand, if it 
proves to be true, candor, reason, common sense 
would lead them to thank God for new light, and 
for the additional proof of his goodness in leading 
them in the way of knowledge, and directing their 
minds to the adoption of truth. 

We often talk of freedom of thought, though a 
moment's consideration will convince us that it is 
led by some more ambitious mind than our own ; 
and too often we adopt views, not because we 
know them to be true from our own personal ex- 
amination, but because some one else says they 
are so, and we unhesitatingly believe him. 

If any new theory arises, any new views are 
promulgated, we are apt to decide at once for or 
against them, and this without giving them that 
examination which would render us capable of 
rightly judging. Thus man too often binds down 
his thoughts in the rusty chains of false views, 
riveted strongly with the iron of prejudice and 
the pride of opinion. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 9 

You will admit that this is a subject of deep 
interest to every living being. Why should we 
deny it a hearing? Bring forward any other 
with one-half the evidence of truth that clings to 
this, and all will believe it. 

I think I have said enough to convince you 
that a consideration of it devolves upon us all. 
I do not propose to give you a collection of facts. 
The manifestations are continually transpiring 
around you, and to them all some objections are 
made. 

These objections are of two classes :— 

The first, comprises those made by individuals 
who have partially or fully examined the subject, 
and. though they are convinced of the reality of 
what they see and hear, are yet inclined to doubt 
the source from which they arise. In their minds, 
belief and unbelief in turn bear sway. At one 
moment, convinced, of the truth ; at the next, 
troubled with doubts and objections. 

The second, is composed of those who have 
not yet examined and will not ; but, think them- 
selves able to judge without knowing. They con- 
sider it beneath their dignity to converse upon a 
subject far above their comprehension. I have no 
sympathy with such natures ; and, if any pity, it 
is only by the exercise of that charity which "suf- 
fereth long and is kind, is not easily provoked, 
and thinketh no evil." 



10 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

To both of these classes I submit this volume ; 
to the first, that their objections may be done 
away with j and to the second, that they may 
be induced to see the importance of a personal 
examination of the subject. 



FIRST OBJECTION. 

"THESE MANIFESTATIONS ARE PRODUCED BY MACHINERY, 
TRICKERY OR DECEPTION." 

This has long since been discarded. No one 
who has examined the manifestations, will, for a 
moment doubt that they are produced independent 
of all human agency. Those who have not ex- 
amined, may bring up the objection, but will you 
take their opinion. You would not in the sim- 
pliest matters. Will you in this ? Are such capa- 
ble of deciding ? It cannot be for a moment 
supposed that so many thousands of our most in- 
telligent, honest and respectable families, would 
engage in a deception which takes hold on this 
world and the next, and affects man's interests here 
and hereafter ! 

Thousands of mediums become such without 
any particular desire of their own. Can deception 
exist in such cases ? The following, a fair speci- 
men of the experiences of many persons, is taken 
from the " Philadelphia Sun" of a recent date. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 11 

"Harassed with many and serious business and domestic 
cares, and with a mind preoccupied, I have, until the be- 
ginning of last month, cared as little, indulged as little, as 
any other in the country, in that enthusiasm which rushes 
in headlong haste around the Spiritual "rappings." 

"And now,without any intention of my own, I am what 
folks call " a medium." 

"Visiting at the house of a friend when a medium was 
present, I heard, for the second time, the "rappings;" 
but, such is the uncertainty in locating sound, and the 
many ways of producing it, that these were, to me, not 
convincing proofs of either spiritual or electrical agency. 
I was induced to form one of a circle ; and the table we 
surrounded soon began to oscillate rapidly. My right arm 
was seized with a convulsive tremor, and though then in a 
44 positive condition," it refused obedience to my will. I 
looked upon it with the same surprise that I would have 
regarded the arm of another, subject to the same wild and 
wondrous spell. A pencil and paper were lying on the 
table. The pencil came into my hand ; my fingers were 
clenched on it ! An unseen iron-grasp compressed the 
tendons of my arm — my hand was flung violently forward 
on the paper, and I wrote meaning sentences, without any 
intention, or knowing what they were to be. Such messa- 
ges were thus addressed to me, and through others in the 
circle, so unexpected, and bearing strong interior evidence 
in structure of thought and language of having come from 
the loved and gone from whom they purported to come, 
that I yielded to the gush of bewildering emotion, as I 
would have done had I found myself suddenly in the 
society of all most dear to me. With bowed head, and 
my face covered with my left arm, I continued to write, 
swiftly, lengthy and intelligible replies to my questionings. 
Meanwhile, the medium passed into a mesmeric trance, 
and described those who were about me, and among the 
rest, ray father— his dark complexion, very black beard 
and hair, and exact height — telling me all that I knew of 
him myself, though he had been born after his death, many 



12 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

hundred miles away from his grave, and never could have 
had the means of learning anything about him. He said 
that my hand rested in a cloud, while my guardian-spirit — 
my father — dictated to me. 

"Since then, whenever I am passive, day or night, my 
hand writes. The communications are always addressed to 
myself ; and when advice has been given to regulate my 
arrangements and intercourse with others, it has been — like 
advice from other quarters — mostly unheeded. Once, 
however, being governed by this aerial interference, saved 
me from being in the rail-road cars at the time of a serious 
accident. 

"It would be needless to add other facts. I know not 
whence the power comes, nor all that the mystery involves, 
but I do know that some " Spiritual Manifestations" are 
not the effects of jugglery. I know that they sometimes 
exhibit proofs of physical strength and more than mortal 
intelligence. But, seemingly " victimized" by impalpable 
friends, I continue strangely skeptical. Still, without 
mental volition, I write, and wonder at what is written. 

"In the enjoyment of this " intercourse" I am tranquil, 
happy, and— try to be — philosophic. It interferes, in no 
wise, with my health, appetite, and ordinary habits ; nor 
would I willingly have those around me — with the excep- 
tion of earnest, thoughtful inquirers — guess in what weird 
fantasia my seclusion is passed. 

"Is this insanity ? If so, it is becoming genteel — it is 
epidemic craziness. There is some meager consolation for 
the man laboring under this " hallucination," in knowing 
that he shares it with many who have long been esteemed 
among the right-minded and right-hearted of every com- 
munity, and those, too, who would neither practice decep- 
tion, nor connive at it in others. 

Every attempt to support this objection by 
proof, has failed. I do not say that there is no 
deception. In this, as in all subjects, it exists. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 13 

In Religion, Love, and Morality ; in the noblest 
as well as the simpliest affairs of life it is to be 
found. This subject is not infallable. Its most 
zealous advocates never claimed for it that prerog- 
ative of the Creator. There are some in every 
grade of life, who, either for pecuniary gain, or 
■to gratify their own selfishness, practice decep- 
tion. Would it not then, in view of this truth, 
be wonderful indeed, if, in a subject taking such 
deep hold of man's self-interests, and having such 
an influence over his actions as this, were there 
none among the tens of thousands upon whom 
the blessing of mediumship has been bestowed, 
who betrayed their trust ? Remember eighteen 
hundred years ago, when, among twelve who 
professed attachment, and promised faithfulness 
to " God manifest in the flesh," one was found 
whose selfishness led him to deceive. And shall 
we expect better things ? 

Do you love your Creator any the less because 
men in distant lands hew out to themselves idols, 
call them gods, and worship them as sincerely, 
and it may be more devotedly, than you do the 
only living and true God ? 

Do you love true and undefiled religion any 
the less, because thousands deceive and tens of 
thousands are deceived by a false view of it? 
Certainly not. Then why, because in this mat- 
Pi 



14 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

ter we occasionally hear of a pretended or partial 
medium practising deception, should you deem 
the truth itself any the less worthy of support, at 
least, of a fair consideration ? Yet, these instan- 
ces are sent from paper to paper, blazoned forth 
with all the emphasis which all the art of itali- 
cising and pointing can give them, as proofs that 
the whole subject is a deception. As well might 
you gather all the idols of Burmah, all the Ko- 
rans and vain traditions of men, and, with Jug- 
gernaut as the crowning point of all, tell me that 
there is no God, and the Bible is a fable ! 

There can be no counterfeit without a genuine. 
The very fact that there is an imitation, is proof 
that there is a real. 

Our spiritual friends are aware of the existence 
of deception, and warn us against it. They tell 
us to try the spirits. They give us peculiar sig- 
nals, so that we may be certain of their presence, 
and may not be deceived. The objection that 
they, the manifestations, are caused by deception, 
you will be candid enough to admit, has no foun- 
dation. I have mentioned it because it was the 
earliest made, and though now never brought 
forward by reasonable persons, is worthy of note, 
as foremost in the array of arguments against 
Spiritualism, which will pass away before the 
dawning light. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 15 



SECOND OBJECTION. 

"these manifestations are caused by the mind or 

will of the medium, or by the mind of one, or 

the minds of all, acting through the medium." 

To show that this objection has no weight, is 
an easy task. If it was true we could receive 
them at any time, and they might be just what 
we willed them to be. But, contrary to this, 
sometimes the medium and all present are very 
anxious to receive something, and do not ; which, 
we subsequently are told by our spirit friends, is 
caused by there being not any or not sufficient 
harmony— -a qualification of the first importance — 
or it may be, the spirit cannot attend. In this 
instance, there is a strong exercise of the will of 
all present. Were manifestations caused by this 
" will," could we not have them at such a time ? 
At other times, when we least expect them, they 
appear. At the tea-table we have conversed upon 
the subject, when, unexpected to us, the raps 
came, as if to rise up in evidence of the truth. 
We have put questions, answers to which we all 
supposed would be in the affirmative. We rather 
wished them to be so than otherwise. Yet, 
though our wishes and opinions have looked for 
"Yes," "No," was given. We have asked if 



16 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

they were not mistaken ; if they did not mean 
"Yes," if, on second thought it was not "Yes." 
But they adhered to "No," and no effort of ours 
could alter their response. Here is proof that it 
is not the mind of any visible being present. 

Sometimes, for some good reason of their own, 
they tell one to leave the circle ; or tell us to 
omit sitting at the time, though we may all be 
anxious to have communications. Were this ob- 
jection of any force, such incidents as I have 
mentioned would never occur. 

A friend of mine attended a sitting for the pur- 
pose of testing this point. He asked for the spirit 
of a friend. It announced its presence. In his 
own mind he fixed the thought of his mother, 
and resolutely determined, if possible, to have her 
spirit and none other, respond. He asked the 
name. A rap came at the letter M. Now, thought 
he, I shall effect my end, for that commences the 
word mother. He continued calling, and a rap 
come at A. He now began to doubt the strength 
of his will in the case. However, he determined 
if possible to make the response, " Martha." The 
next letter given was R, and he again thought 
he should gain his point. He called the alpha- 
bet, and reaching T, he dwelt for a moment, but 
no rap came. He asked if T was the letter, 
when, more distinctly than ever, came the single 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 17 

rap for "No." He continued calling till Y was 
spoken, when the response came and he was satis- 
fied that his Will had no control over the answers. 
If you will make a similar experiment, I have no 
doubt it will be attended with a like result. 

Numerous other facts could be mentioned prov- 
ing that the mind of the medium or minds of 
those visibly present, have no connexion with the 
manifestations. No two spirits give the same 
toned rap or the same style of hand- writing. , 
Each differs, and that so as to be easily distin- 
guished one from the other. Did the medium 
control the manifestation, this difference would 
not exist, and the writings would always be in 
nearly the same style. Different spirits produce 
different sensations upon the medium ; and the 
latter can at once know when a spirit who has 
never before communicated, begins to manifest 
itself. Each spirit has, also, some peculiar char^ 
acteristic. One intersperses its communications 
with verses of poetry. Another's chief desire 
seems to be to convince of the truth of the sub- 
ject. Another is known by its very affectionate 
and endearing allusions. With such facts before 
you I think you will admit that the objection 
under consideration, falls to the ground. 

P*] 



18 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 



THIRD OBJECTION 

"THESE MANIFESTATIONS ARE PRODUCED BY ELECTEICITT, 
MAGNETISM, OK SOME SIMILAR POWER." 

Were these manifestations merely the moving 
of tables, rapping, and the making ol marks on 
paper, we might possibly admit that one of those 
agencies produced them : but as they are not 
these alone, but bear with them the evidence of 
an intelligence, it were folly indeed to ascribe to 
those powers the first cause oi these demon- 
strations. 

The attempt made by the holders ci this ob- 
jection, is somewhat characteristic of the age. 
Some men attempt to prove that all creation, even 
life itself, is caused by those natural agencies; 
and so it seems to me those who say these man- 
ifestations are produced by Electricity. Magnetism, 
and its kindred, would bring out their Materialism, 
and credit it. not only with mechanical power. 
but with an intelligence that can heal the sick — 
give names never heard of by any present — ^ 
dates forgotten by all. and only found correct by 
reference to written documents — tell of ev . 
past, present and to come, and to enact many other 
proofs of the labor of mind. 

In attributing such results to E' \ vou 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 19 

invest it with a genius and talent superior to that 
possessed by a vast majority of mankind. You say 
it will write poetry and prose which could not be 
produced by nine-tenths of the population of the 
globe, and admit its claims to a degree of christian 
character far exceeding that of most of mankind ; 
and furthermore in thus admitting Electricity to 
be the cause you allow it a full knowledge of the 
Bible and the power to explain the hidden mean- 
ing of many of its passages. 

If Electricity is really the author of all these 
manifestations, why is it that men of science, 
professors, and those who have studied deep and 
know all its ways do not admit the fact ? Where 
is there one fully acquainted with the laws that 
govern that subtle agent ; one who, by long years 
of study and experiment is capable of judging, 
that is willing to risk his reputation as a scholar 
and a man of scientific attainments by coming out 
and publicly declaring that all of the manifestations 
said to be of spiritual origin are produced by Elec- 
tricity or Magnetism, and prove the truth of his 
assertion ? You cannot find such a person. But 
you will find thousands, who, for want of any 
other objection say "it is all Electricity ; it is all 
Magnetism." And what, tell me, do they know 
about those subjects ? How is it that such a host 
of individuals have all at once become so acquain- 



20 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

ted with them, as to know for a certainty that 
they produce such wonderful results, when those 
who have made the sciences* the study of a life- 
time, are silent ! A gentleman of Boston, a manu- 
facturer and dealer in scientific apparatus, who is 
well informed not only in the theoretical but in 
the practical part of Electricity. Magnetism, and 
their like, made an offer through the public prints, 
of one thousand dollars, to any one who would 
satisfactorily prove these manifestations to be pro- 
duced by either or all of those powers, or from 
any other cause than a spiritual. 

Where then, were all those who so zealously 
brought forward the objection we are consider- 
ing ? Ah, they found it much easier to say, than 
to prove what they said ; and even a thousand 
dollars was not a magnet powerful enough to 
attract a particle of proof. 

A work is now in course of publication, in the 
introduction of which the author says he shall 
prove that these manifestations are produced by 
a power similar to Electricity or Magnetism. 
Truth has come to its own defence, and, at 
the first onset of this weapon raised against it 
blunted its edge and prevented the havoc it might 
otherwise have caused, for in the very first num- 
ber of the work, the author annihilates his own 
theory. On page 50, IT 83, he says :— 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 21 

" For it is admitted that a spiritual agent is an 
intelligent agent. Its characteristics are those of 
intelligence, every one admits. Wherever, there- 
fore, these characteristics are wanting in a class 
of phenomena, it is blindly absurd, greatly super- 
stitious, even to draw the inference that they are 
spiritual phenomena." 

That is the true doctrine ; and it is on such a 
foundation, a faith in the spiritual theory is built. 
It is this very presence of an intelligence that leads 
us at first to attribute the manifestations to other 
than a natural cause j and as we proceed to in- 
vestigate, fixes our minds more firmly in the 
belief. Any one who has fairly examined, 
cannot deny that this phenomena possesses the 
very characteristic which the above writer says 
spiritual agencies should have, and which is a \V 
proof of their spiritual origin. In what way he ^ 
can proceed in support of his views after such an 
admission, I cannot determine. His only way, 
as far as I can see, will be to prove that these 
phenomena do not exhibit any proof of intelli- 
gence, a hard task indeed. He mentions a few 
instances which have taken place in ages past, in 
which he judges there was not any intelligence. 
He may judge correctly, but I doubt it. Sup- 
pose, however, for a moment, that there was a 
want of that spiritual characteristic, was any 



22 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

attempt made before the present time to elicit any ? 
And may not all of those forcible manifestations 
have been made for the special purpose of attract- 
ing attention, and inducing man to investigate ? 
Within a few years this has been done. The 
progress of mankind in knowledge and the recur- 
rence of such facts, have forced men to examine, 
and, as this age is one of inquiry rather than neg- 
lect and unwarranted condemnation, it has led to 
a profitable result, and we find that there is in- 
telligence to be received by these demonstrations. 

If, in ages past, no intelligence was recognized, 
it was not because it did not exist, but because 
no effort was made to bring it to light. Years 
ago we would have pronounced the statement 
false that told us of the existence of millions of 
living insects invisible to the human eye, but, 
since by the aid of the microscope they are 
brought to view, no reasonable mind will doubt it. 

Has Electricity a mind? Has it reasoning 
powers ? Can it write a single word ? Take 
an electrical machine and try its powers. Bid it 
answer your inquiries. But how useless it is for 
me to tell you to do this. You know it cannot. 
You know you might as well take a stick of 
wood and bid it write, as to ask Electricity or 
Magnetism to do any such thing. 

Which view of this subject is it most difficult 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 23 

to believe that the manifestations are caused by 
rational, intelligent, reasoning spirits, or by sense- 
less, soulless Electricity or Magnetism ? 

I am told by some that they are caused by the 
Nervous Principle. Were nothing written by me- 
diums except what they had some knowledge of, 
we might suppose that an undue excitement of 
the nervous system had awakened some slumber- 
ing thoughts and written them out. But, in 
nearly, if not quite every, instance, the writing 
relates to matters of which the medium is entirely 
ignorant, and in some cases, incidents are given 
that happened to individuals who left this world 
years before the medium was born ! 

If all that has transpired has been caused by 
Nervousness, then that " Nervousness" must be a 
thinking, acting principle, independent of the 
minds of the mediums, for the reason that what 
is written never existed in their minds ; and fur- 
thermore, it must necessarily have a full know- 
ledge of all the events of an individual's life, 
who, centuries ago left this state of existence. 

To whatever cause you attribute these mani- 
festations, the truth forces itself upon the mind, 
that, call it by whatever name you will, it is a 
spiritual intelligence. You allow that the spirit 
lives forever ; that the quitting of its earthly 
tenement is not the annihilation of itself. Why 



24 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

then, are you so anxious to deny the presence of 
a power which you freely acknowledge to exist ? 
Why fancy to yourself some far-off Elysian of 
bliss, when the kingdom of heaven has come nigh 
unto you. Where is the spirit world? You 
have located it tens of millions of leagues beyond 
the fartherest star. Can you prove that it is there ? 
Can you prove that it is not all around you ? Is 
it not as natural to suppose that it is, as to sup- 
pose it to be in that far-away region ? Can you 
not believe with Milton, that 

" Myriads of spiritual creatures walk this earth 
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep." 

Still bent upon objections, you say it is the 
medium's mind acting through Electricity. I 
have previously shown you that this cannot be, 
and that the results are independent of that mind. 
In saying this, you seem to admit that there is 
"Mind" connected with these manifestations. It 
is hard for you to believe that anything but mind 
can perform these wondrous things. Electricity 
may be employed as an agent to effect these 
things, the same as a table is sometimes employed 
on which to make the manifestations, but it is 
only as an agent used by an Intelligence ; that 
" Intelligence" I have shown you is not the mind 
of any one visibly present, because facts are writ- 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 25 

ten and communications given in a dozen different 
languages, of which the medium never had the 
least knowledge. Communications are also given 
without the presence of any one. Pen, paper and 
ink have been placed in a room, the door locked, 
and a watch placed over every possible way of 
entrance, and after a certain time that paper has 
been found written upon ! Such things are facts 
which can be as clearly proved as that the sun 
shines at noon-day. If, then, it is mind and not 
the mind of any one visibly present, it must be 
the mind of some one invisibly present, and that 
being must be a spirit, and that spirit must be the 
one it purports to be, for it answers questions 
which none but it can possibly know. 

To suppose Electricity of itself to do all this ; 
to attribute to Magnetism, simply as Magnetism, 
those powers of thought, reason, and will which 
man glories in possessing ; to say that anything 
but a living, thinking, spirit has the power to 
perform such things as are daily and hourly oc- 
curing in our midst, would be considered if sup- 
posed of any other subject, the judgment of igno- 
rance and the decision of weak minds. 



[3] 



26 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

FOURTH OBJECTION. 

"these manifestations produce insanity." 

This calamity is not produced by these alone ; 
if it was, this objection might have some weight. 
It has been produced by a thousand other sub- 
jects presented to the human mind. It has been 
produced by excessive joy ; yet you do not con- 
demn joy and say, " Let us all be sad and sorrowful, 
for some have become insane through gladness." 
There is a lady now at the Hospital on Black- 
well's Island, whose insanity was brought on by 
the arrival home of her father and brother, whom 
she had supposed Avere shipwrecked" and lost. 
Her joy was so great that she became at once 
wildly insane. The father and brother visit and 
try to convince her of their identity. She does 
not recognize them; but weeps and laughs by 
turns, calling most frantically for her dear father 
and her beloved brother. 

The above is but one of many thousand cases 
of insanity produced by similar causes, yet you 
do not find the public, and its stentorian voice, 
the press, impelled by one instance or many in- 
stances of the kind, condemning joy as an evil, 
and pointing to those instances as reasons why we 
should discard and have nothing to do with it ! 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 27 

A writer in the Springfield Republican, from 
the Insane Retreat in New York, mentions the 
following : 

" There is a small pond in the garden. Just opposite the 
pond I saw a woman, humbly dressed, looking into the 
water. 'That poor woman,' said the doctor, 'has been 
here for several years. She assists in the kitchen, and 
is perfectly harmless, although incurable. She is the wife 
of an industrious man living in an adjoining town. They 
had a family of three boys, two of them died suddenly of 
scarlet fever. Within a week of their burial, the mother 
proceeded to a pond near by for some water. As she was 
dipping her pail, she saw something just beneath the sur- 
face which attracted her attention, and taking a wooden 
rake, she pulled it to the bank ; it proved to be the body 
of her remaining child. A walnut-shell, with a piece of 
paper stuck in the centre, was floating upon the water, 
which no doubt, sailing from the reach of the child, caused 
him to stretch for it, lose his balance, and be drowned. 
Before sunset she was mad, raving mad, and was brought 
here.' 

• ' I have seen faces whose melancholy expression might 
chill the blood like the keenest wind, and the power of 
sympathizing with them be very limited. But, of all that 
I have seen, not any have approached the one I then looked 
upon, in utter absence of all life's sunshine. Pale — ashy 
pale were her features ; her lips were hueless, and her eyes 
sunken ; her lower jaw dropped almost upon her breast, 
and she looked like grief personified. 'Poor creature,' 
exclaimed the doctor, what wretchedness of mind is there 
depicted !' 

'I never saw it equalled,' said I. 

1 No wonder,' replied he, ' for five years a smile has 
not played upon her features, and, in my opinion never 
will.' " 



28 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

Can you produce any case resulting from spir- 
itual manifestations which exceeds, if indeed, 
equals, the above in sadness ? You would not, 
however, condemn the cause producing it, be- 
cause of this one-of-a-thousand instances of de- 
rangement of mind on account of grief, at the 
loss of relatives or friends. You would not say 
it is our duty to live alone in the wilderness 
where friends may never meet us. You would 
not cast away the child you love, and turn from 
his embraces, because it is possible for his death 
to pierce your soul with sorrow and dethrone 
your reason ! No. It is not right that you 
should, and you do not. Should you then con- 
demn this subject, and say, because some who 
have communed with the spirits of the departed, 
have, through undue excitement, lost their proper 
mind, I will deny myself, and advise all others 
to put far from them, all intercourse with the 
loved and gone before, though they hover about 
us and long to convince us of their presence, and 
to hold sweet communion with our spirits ? 

True religion rightly understood and wisely 
engaged in, will not produce insanity ; yet look 
over the past history of mankind, and count, if 
you can, those who have lost their reason by 
becoming engaged in it with a mis-understood 
view of its truths. Just so in this handmaid of 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 29 

it, this part, this very soul of it as it were, if 
rightly understood and acted upon, it cannot pro- 
duce evil results, though, misunderstood and fool- 
ishly engaged in, it may. Rightly understood 
and improved, it will calm the disturbed mind. 
It will banish doubts that hang like black and 
fearful clouds upon the sky of the future, and 
lead man to adopt the Bible as his rule of life, 
and to look forward to a joy set before him. 

Examine the Reports and you will find insanity 
attributed to matters of common, every-day occur- 
rence ; yet you do not bring instances before the 
public, and say, " You must not allow trade and 
commerce ; for anxious days and sleepless nights 
have led many noble minds astray. You must 
not love : for the object of your affection may be 
taken from you and you become a madman. You 
must not hope ; for that hope may fail you, and 
you will, in an insane asylum, find a home in 
which to muse on your disappointment. You 
must not think ; for if you do, you may overtax 
your mind, and your reason will become de- 
throned." 

Such an argument leads to the most absurd 
and irrational conclusions ; yet it is the argument 
of this objection. If carried out, it would make 
us senseless logs, inactive and useless members 
of society, and the result would be the very one 
[8*] 



30 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

you so deeply mourn ; for it would cause idle- 
ness to become the heritage of mind ; and an idle 
mind would certainly be a madman's or an idiot's 
possession. 

It is the mind, not the subject, we must regu- 
late ; the fountain, not the stream, we must 
sweeten. One mind might look on Sinai smok- 
ing with fire from heaven, and hear the trump of 
the last day, and not become injuriously affected ; 
while another, might listen to the gentle rapping 
of a spirit-friend, as soft and harmless as an 
infant's whisper, telling him of future joy and 
eternal blessedness, and starting, tremble and 
become a stranger to reason. 

This subject has the world to battle with ; it 
has the Prince of Darkness to overcome ; and 
wily and cunning are the weapons its opponents 
bring against it. They would not dream of 
urging the objection now under consideration, 
against any one of the subjects above alluded to, 
though it might be brought with as great, if not 
with greater force. 

It is not strange that, as a result of the abuses 
this subject is constantly receiving, not only from 
its enemies but from its unenlighted friends, we 
occasionally hear of a case of insanity. These 
instances are often exaggerated as they pass from 
mouth to mouth, and from paper to paper, and 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 31 

their disseminators boastingly exclaim : — " See 
the results of this spiritual movement !" Why do 
not these faithful guardians of the public mind 
bring forward instances of insanity as they are 
daily produced by other causes, and say : — " See 
the result of Joy, of Hope, of Trade, of Reli- 
gion?" 

Ah, they will not. The wisdom of the world 
teaches them better. And the wisdom which is 
from above will soon teach them that insanity is 
not the natural result of Spiritual Intercourse ; 
that it is only produced by it on weak and un- 
trained minds, and that such minds would be af- 
fected in the same way by any other subject, of 
equal interest, brought before them with equal 
vividness and evidence of truth. 



FIFTH OBJECTION. 

"mediumship injures health, therefore good spirits 

have nothing to do with it, for thet 

would do no evil." 

Innumerable instances may be named in which 
health has been restored, the blind made to see 
and the lame to walk, but very few are known in 
which injury has resulted from Spiritual Inter- 
course. These few are enough, perhaps you 



32 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

think, to condemn it. Let us see. The injury 
alluded to, has been, in nearly if not every in- 
stance, a derangement of the mental organs, and 
this objection, therefore, is involved in that 
of insanity, previously considered. To this, as to 
that objection, the answer may be given, that 
where the caution and judgment usually exercised 
in the daily affairs of life are brought to bear, no 
such result as ill-health of body or mind will 
ensue. 

It is not the subject, but the undue excitement 
into which a medium allows his or her mind to 
wander, unguarded by caution and unrestrained 
by reason, that has given the least foundation for 
this objection. 

Heat is good. Air is good. Each in its proper 
place. And neither will injure our health if we 
use reason while being its recipient. But if, in- 
stead of holding our hand at a proper distance, 
we thrust it into the fire, whose fault is it if we 
surfer ? We cannot live without air ; but if, in- 
stead of having it circulate freely around us, we 
sit in a position to receive a strong current of it 
upon one portion of the body, it may produce ill- 
health. In this case whose fault is it ? The fire 
is not at fault, neither is the air ; nor are they 
any the less good and useful because we impru- 
dently meet them. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 33 

It is about thus in every condition of life. We 
may make the circumstances of that condition 
productive of good, or we may make them produc- 
tive of evil. We may make the bible our ruin by 
misinterpreting it ; religion our bane, by wrong 
views and an erroneous practice of it ; though 
the legitimate effects of these are the very oppo- 
site of such results. 

Spiritual intercourse may possibly injure us if 
we engage in it without the exercise of that 
caution and judgment which God hath given us 
for our protection. Thus the blessing may be 
turned into a curse ; and the light, instead of 
guiding, may blind us with its dazzling bril- 
liance. 

If mediums proceed rationally in the perform- 
ance of their duties, no harm will follow. But if 
they indulge in levity, if they sit to gratify the 
sportive desires of the thoughtless, and continue 
their sittings at all hours, without regard to diet 
or repose, they will injure themselves, and the 
cause whose welfare they should endeavour to 
promote. And, even if their intentions are good, 
and serious thoughts control them, they should 
not engage in the subject with too great a zeal, 
but let moderation be in all their ways. There- 
fore be cautious, exercise a good judgment, and 
forsake not the paths of reason and prudence. 



34 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 



SIXTH OBJECTION. 

"if these manifestations and communications are 

from spirits, why do we receive any 

that are useless, inconsistent, 

and contradictory ?" 

I answer, because there are deceiving spirits 
out of the body as well as in the body. The 
bible frequently alludes to these, and gives us 
warning that we may not become their victims, 
by telling us to try the spirits whether they be 
of God. 

The mediums are often imperfect ; in fact, 
there are not any perfect. It is difficult for them 
to lay aside their own mind ; to make their own 
will inactive ; yet these things are requisite, in 
order to have the communications at all times 
consistent and precisely what the spirit-communi- 
cator wishes them to be. 

Questions are oftentimes misunderstood. The 
idea in our own mind is poorly denned. At one 
moment, a question is put admitting of an affirma- 
tive, and the next, one admitting of a negative 
response. Furthermore, half a dozen mental 
questions, admitting of various answers, are given 
by as many members of a circle, and what one 
questioner takes for the answer to his inquiry 
may be the reply to that of another. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 35 

But, after all, there is not much inconsistency or 
contradiction. You do not say that there is ; you 
only ask why there should be any. I think a 
moment's thought will satisfy you of the cause. 

Spirits are not omniscient, neither are they om- 
nipotent. We are apt to attribute to them every 
distinguishing feature of the Creator, and to sup- 
pose, because of their nature, they have a knowl- 
edge of all things, and can answer any and all 
questions we may conjure up. 

This view of their ability is a wrong one, and 
conflicts with the truth in our investigations of this 
subject. We should commune with spirits some- 
what as with friends in the body. From their 
position they know more than we do about some 
particular things ; while, about other matters, we 
know more than they do. 

It would be idle for us to ask them to protect 
us from danger, if we rushed into it. They might 
so impress our minds as to lead us in another direc- 
tion; but they could not act against the direct 
law of nature, so as to prevent fire from burning, or 
water from drowning. And it must be exceed- 
ingly annoying to them for us to suppose any such 
thing possible. 

Contradictions, therefore, may arise from such 
confused and unreasonable ideas. The limited 
knowledge we have of the laws of spiritual life 
may cause us to look upon some manifestations 



36 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

as inconsistent, while the fact may be that it is 
our own inconsistency we are rinding fault with. 
Caution should be our guide, and charity the gov- 
ernor of our judgment. Light might then break 
out from amid the darkness, and all mysteries 
become plain; all that we deem inconsistent ap- 
pear reasonable. 

If you go to a sitting for mere curiosity, — if 
you ask idle questions, — if your thoughts are 
always disputing, never admitting a palpable truth, 
you may be met with inconsistencies ; but these 
have their birth with you. At such times, what 
you receive may be useless, but you do not desire 
the useful If you go to seek for truth, earnest 
and devout in your investigations, — if you go 
with thoughts high and holy, — you will draw 
around you spirits of intelligence, even the angels 
of heaven. 

This is a sure preventive against useless and 
inconsistent results. Go to a good, candid, pas- 
sive medium, — one who, as far as possible, gives 
up to the influence of the spirit-world. Seek truth 
and knowledge, not signs and wonders, and, be 
assured, you will never have cause to present this 
objection, or make the inquiry which I have briefly 
answered. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 37 



SEVENTH OBJECTION. 

"IP TRUE, WHY DO NOT PUBLIC LECTURERS ON THE SUBJECT 

EXHIBIT THE MANIFESTATIONS ? WHY DO WE NOT 

HAVE THEM AT ANY TIME ? " 

This is not given to us for public show. Instead 
of coming to crowds of scoffers, who would only- 
ridicule it and mock at the most startling proofs, it 
comes in its own quiet way to our firesides and 
our homes. How characteristic of the whole gos- 
pel dispensation is this ! God comes not in the 
whirlwind, he visits us not in storms. He comes 
in a still, small voice, quiet as the falling of dew 
on Mount Hermon, to bless his people. 

Think you the manifestation on the day of Pen- 
tecost would have occurred, if, instead of their 
being all of one accord, the confused multitude 
had met? Then, instead of harmony, there would 
have been discord. It is even so now. There 
must be harmony. This is not always obtained 
in small circles ; how, then, can it be expected in 
large, promiscuous assemblies ? 

But the very objection involved in this inquiry 
is a proof of the truth of the subject. If it was 
deception, — if it was caused by the mind of the 
medium, by the will, wish, or desire, of the lecturer, 
— most certainly he would never fail at such a 
time to produce the manifestations. 
4 



38 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

I have just heard of an instance in which a medium 
was offered a thousand dollars if she would cause 
the table to move, but could not. And, singular 
enough, this was told me as proof that the subject 
is not true ! What better proof than this very fact 
can you have of its genuineness ? Here is a young 
girl, not wealthy (and, even if she were, a thou- 
sand dollars would not be likely to be passed by, if 
it were possible to secure it), offered this tempting 
prize if she would cause a table to move, as she 
had many times before. If she had previously 
done this by her own will, or by any contrivance 
whatsoever of her own, or over which she had 
control, would not svdi an offer have induced her 
to do so again at this time ? 

If these manifestations were to be seen at any 
time and place, — if public lecturers could exhibit 
them, — you would then say, "It is all a money- 
making business ; it is nothing but a speculation. " 
But you cannot say so now. A few years ago 
this charge was brought up; but, as the gift of 
mediumship became the possession of thousands 
in every part of our country, and we received the 
manifestations without money and without price, 
that objection, which at first seemed so formidable, 
was thrown aside, and gave place to the one we 
are now examining. Thus, you see, the public 
seem determined to raise some objection. If an 
article is white, they object because it is not black ; 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 39 

and if it is black, they object because it is not 
white. 

The very cause which gives rise to this objec- 
tion is a proof of the genuineness of these mani- 
festations ; is a proof that they come from a higher 
source than any that earth can furnish ; a source 
uninfluenced by sordid views ; a source too pure 
and holy and intelligent to be made to contribute 
merely to the gratification of man's curiosity, 
without having any higher object, — without 
reaching the heart. 



EIGHTH OBJECTION. 

" WHEN DEPARTED FRIENDS APPEAR, WHY DO THEY COME WITH 

THE DEFORMITIES WHICH WERE THEIRS IN THIS LIFE ? WHEN 

THEY WRITE, WHY DO THEY DO SO IN THAT TREMBLING, 

NERVOUS STYLE WHICH DISEASE AND AGE HAD 

FORCED UPON THEM BEFORE THEY 

LEFT THIS SPHERE? 

These peculiarities are assumed for your own 
satisfaction. They might appear in that beautiful 
body with which they are clothed ; but would you 
know them then ? They might write in a fair and 
artistic style ; but would you admit their identity 
then? No. They must appear as you know 
them, or you cannot recognize them. When you 
are so far from being convinced, now that you see 
them as you remember them, what hope would 



40 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

they have of success in their efforts to win you 
to the truth, were they to appear as you had 
never seen them? And certainly it would be 
thus, if they came with all the freshness and 
beauty of an immortal existence. Instead of ob- 
jecting and building up scepticism on this fact, we 
should be thankful that our departed friends are 
permitted to assume the unmistakable habits and 
appearances by which they can be recognized by 
us, and thus in our minds place a belief of their 
identity beyond the possibility of a doubt. 



NINTH OBJECTION. 

IF THESE ARE SPIRITS, THEY MUST BE EVIL SPIRITS. 

Why are you led to this conclusion? If evil 
spirits are allowed to visit and torment us, are not 
good spirits permitted to draw near and comfort ? 
What means the passage, "Are they not all min- 
istering spirits?" Do you suppose these alluded 
to are evil ones ? One writer on this subject, 
reported to be Professor Po?id, of Bangor, says, 
" The devils are always at hand;" and then goes 
on "supposing" that these are of the same class. 
Very willing, he appears to be, to have demons 
about us, but thinks it impossible that angels 
should be our visitants, 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 41 

To give the Evil One such power over the an- 
gelic host, which no man can number, places him 
on a throne on which, I supposed, a mightier than 
he held place. 

" A house divided against itself cannot stand." 
The communications received are not characteristic 
of evil. They tell us to "read the Bible;' 1 to 
"search its truths;" to " guard against sin;" to 
" do no evil;" to "love God." They point us to 
the Cross ; they tell us of the Lamb whose blood 
was shed for the remission of our sins. 

In the seventh and ninth of Mark, we are told 
of " evil spirits" and of " dumb spirits," implying 
that there were other spirits. Else why say " evil," 
and why "dumb"? Why not say "a spirit," if, 
indeed, all spirits were evil ? Christ told his dis- 
ciples " this kind cometh forth only by prayer and 
fasting," and, by the words "this kind" most 
plainly showing that there were other kinds, — we 
may reasonably believe good spirits, who would 
leave without the effort of prayer and fasting. 

Yes, there were good spirits then, as now, that 
came to visit man. And then, as now. evil spirits 
came. 

What is the sense of the apostolic injunction to 
" try the spirits," if they are all of one kind, — if 
they are all evil 1 Why try that of which we 
know already. If, as you say, these are all evil 
spirits, they are so, and all the trial we could pos- 
4* 



42 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

sibly give them would not change them, or con- 
vince us that they were good. 

I am informed that a recent commentator on 
the prophecies declares that the manifestations of 
the present time are foretold in Revelations 16th 
chapter, verses 13 and L4. Let us examine those 
passages and see. 

13. " And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, 
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of 
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of 
the false prophet. 

14. " For they are the spirits of devils working 
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the 
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to 
the battle of that great day of God Almighty." 

You will notice that there are but three of these, 
and that the origin of each is given. One comes 
out of the mouth of the Dragon, one out of the 
mouth of the Beast, and one out of the mouth of 
the False Prophet. 

Who is the Dragon ? See chapter 12, verse 9. 
" And the great dragon was cast out, that old ser- 
pent called the Devil and Satan." Read all of this 
twelfth chapter, and you will learn that the dragon 
was that mighty angel that fell from heaven and 
brought woe (verse 12) to the inhabitants of the 
earth. You will become convinced that the dragon 
is Satan. 

Who is the Beast? See chapter 13, verses 2, 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 43 

5, 6, 7. To the beast " the dragon gave his power 
and his seat and great authority. And there was 
given nil to him a mouth, speaking great things, 
and blasphemies. And he opened his mouth 
against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tab- 
ernacle and them that dwell therein. And it was 
given unto him to make war with the saints, and 
to overcome them, and power was given him over 
all kindreds and tongues and people." The gen- 
eral belief is that the beast here spoken of is "Anti- 
Christ." To it Satan has given great power. 
You will admit that there has been, for several 
centuries, an established form of religion in the 
world that has professed to work miracles ; that 
has spoken great things ; that has blasphemed and 
persecuted God's tabernacle (church) and those 
that dwell therein ; that has had many a severe 
war with the saints, and has had great power over 
kindreds and tongues and people. This is Anti- 
Christ, and this is that which is called the Beast. 

Who is the False Prophet ? False Prophet in 
this, as in several other places, is a general name 
for erroneous doctrines. See 2d of Peter, 2d chap- 
ter, verses 1 and 2, tl There were false prophets 
among the people, even as there shall be false 
teachers among yon, who shall privily bring in 
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that 
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift 
destruction. And many shall follow their per- 



44 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

nicious ways, by reason of which the way of truth 
shall be evil spoken of." In this passage you 
have a full definition of a "false prophet," which, 
you cannot doubt, means false doctrines. 

Thus you see that, of these "three unclean 
spirits," these "spirits of devils, working mira- 
cles," one proceeds from Satan, the great dragon ; 
one from Anti-Christ, the beast, and one from 
False Doctrines, the false prophet. By a spirit pro- 
ceeding from each of these, we are to understand 
that power which they exercised, that life in the 
world which they put forth to enact their will. 
The three unclean spirits are, therefore. Sin-, Anti- 
Christ, and False Doctrines. They are " the spirits 
of devils." No one will dispute that. They have 
gone " forth unto the kings of the earth and of the 
whole world." This all will admit. And they 
were to be in full power during the pouring forth 
of the vial of the sixth angel. See verse 12. They 
have had that power. The few centuries past 
have witnessed the mighty rule of Sin, of Anti- 
Christ, and of False Doctrines. Their spirits have 
gone forth to work miracles and to deceive. The 
time of the sixth angel is now about closing. 
Read the 17th verse. "And the seventh angel 
poured out his vial into the air ; and there came a 
great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the 
throne, saying, It is done." 

Can you not discern, in the signs of the times, 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 45 

the presence of this seventh angel ? See you not 
in these manifestations the pouring out of his vial 
in the air ? The power that produces them is not 
visible ; it is in, and, as it were, a part of, the air, 
for it has been poured " into the air." Can you 
not hear that voice, — a voice " out of the temple 
of heaven, from the throne" ? 

What will follow these manifestations is plainly 
told in the 18th chapter. " And after these things 
I saw another angel come down from heaven, 
having great power ; and cried mightily with a 
strong voice, Babylon, the great, is fallen." 

In the 19th chapter, verse 20, we are told what 
will become of the beast and the false prophet, — 
they will be cast into a burning lake; — but we 
are not told what will become of the dragon, Satan, 
till the 2d verse of the 20th chapter, where we are 
told he will be bound for a thousand years. Then, 
when Anti-Christ and False Doctrines are no more, 
and Sin is bound, will be the bright and glorious 
age of the millennium. 

Do not these manifestations tend to such an 
end ? Most assuredly they do. The three unclean 
spirits will be vanquished in this " great day of 
God Almighty." 

The attempt of this " learned writer upon the 
prophecies" to prove that those passages foretell 
these spiritual manifestations is opposed by truth, 
and is in direct contrariety with the views of all 



46 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

former writers. Why, the very fact that the spirits 
now holding intercourse with us are numbered by 
millions, is enough to convince any one that there 
are more than three ! Those " three spirits " have 
had their rule. Their reign is nearly over. To 
those who would wrest the meaning of the Scrip- 
tures, I would say, Be watchful, lest, ere they 
depart, they ensnare you in their meshes, and the 
spirit that came, from the mouth of the " false 
prophet" claim a kindred sympathy with your 
own. 

I am free and willing to admit that some of the 
manifestations now appearing proceed from spirits 
of evil ; but that all do, I most emphatically deny. 
The minds of the sitters attract around them spirits 
of a similar turn of thought, and, even' though the 
minds of the sitters are well-inclined, and their 
desires are for high and holy communications, the 
medium may be one who will attract mischiev- 
ous and deceiving spirit-visitants. The medium 
may have had visitors who came for mere curios- 
ity, and whose highest wishes were satisfied with 
the grotesque actions performed by their unseen 
attendants ; thus there may have gathered around 
many low and disgraced spirits, and they may 
have partial, if not complete possession of the 
medium, at the time when other visitors for better 
purposes are in attendance. 

The subject is one not to be trifled with. Take 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 47 

the advice of good spirits, and the evil will be far 
from you. Says one : 

" Seek not to gratify curiosity, but rather search 
for wisdom which will profit. Sit with holy 
thoughts, and have trust and confidence in your 
Creator's promises." 

■ Another spirit, in answer to an inquiry to ascer- 
tain how we can avoid intercourse with the evil, 
wrote as follows : 

" Strive by earnest and sincere prayer to keep 
all thoughts of them from your mind." 

All communications on this point inculcate 
strongly these injunctions: — "Resist, and they 
will flee from you." "Turn from evil, and sin 
not." " Many deceivers have gone forth into the 
world ; therefore, try them and know for a cer- 
tainty whether they be of God." 

Again I say, these are not all evil spirits, and we 
are no more led to conclude that they are, from 
manifestations received, than we are to conclude 
that all mankind are murderers, because some 
raise their hands to slay a brother. Some com- 
munications received may partake of error, and 
bear abundant evidence of an evil origin ; but all 
do not. Ninety-nine hundredths are good and 
holy ; urging to repentance, to wisdom's ways, to 
paths of righteousness. You might as well con- 
demn all religion as emanating from the Evil One, 
as to say these manifestations do; for the same 



48 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

reason can be applied. Some take the Bible as 
their corner-stone, and, to the ignorant and those 
who will not use common judgment as their guide, 
preach doctrines which, to the enlightened, appear 
as utterly false as some of these manifestations. 
But do they charge religion with folly ? Do they 
say, "Religion is the work of the devil, its doc- 
trines have all proceeded from him, and all the 
manifestations of scripture times were but the 
works of evil spirits " 1 No, they do not ; and it 
would not be the course of prudence, reason, com- 
mon sense, or in accordance with the dictates of 
conscience, to do so. Why, then, will you charge 
this subject with so base an origin 1 Do you do 
so on mere hearsay, without personal examination ? 
Then you judge most unfairly. Has not enough 
transpired to induce you to test before deciding a 
question of such importance 1 

For a moment suppose, what I know to be true, 
namely, that good spirits are near, and holding 
intercourse with us. A father, perhaps, beloved 
and honored ; a mother, whose memory is dearly 
cherished ; a sister, a brother, a friend, are now 
hovering about you. They impress your mind so 
that you are led to a sitting with a good medium. 
There they manifest themselves. They inform 
you of events which none but they and yourself 
ever knew, to convince you of their actual pres- 
ence. You wonder j you are almost persuaded to 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 49 

believe. They place a pencil in the medium's 
hand, and write to you, entreating you, as they 
have myself, in sentences like the following : 

u We are with you always ; you are very dear 
to us, and we long to give you these beautiful 
truths." 

• " Love the Bible; search its truths, and you will 
find much to convince you of our existence among 
you." 

" Doubt not. All things are mysterious. Our 
being, — who can tell its design 7 And shall feeble 
mortals attempt to speak our limits?" 

" We have long wished to have you believe us 
hovering o'er you." 

In every possible, and what you have always 
thought impossible way, they strive to convince 
you of the truth of what you see and hear. Were 
anything else presented to you with such evidence, 
you would at once admit its truth. But now you 
doubt. Perhaps those holy and tried friends, thus 
hovering about you, hear you laugh at all their 
efforts, and resist all their persuasions. You have 
mourned their absence. You have often wished 
that you might speak to them, and that they might 
say one word to you. Now they come. Now 
your wish is granted. Now they tell you they are 
happy, and are "hovering o'er you." And what 
is their greeting ? Think, what is the welcome 
you give them ? Though they give you every 
proof of their identity, you mistrust them. Though 
5 



50 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

they breathe in your ears the words of holy love, 
and the truth from God's revealed word, you turn 
away, refuse to listen, deny them a hearing, and 
call them spirits of evil ! 

But yet they are not disheartened. They know 
your heart, and trust to its good judgment for an 
acceptance. They are yet with you, and wish to 
have you examine their evidence, and with can- 
dor listen to their appeals. Call them not evil. 
I assure you that, as true as darkness and light are 
about you, good spirits and evil are at hand. Con- 
demn not the good as evil, lest they forsake you, 
and you find, to your sorrow, that you have chosen 
darkness rather than light, and that you are finally 
left to your own choice. 

We often hear of individuals who, at the hour 
of death, see spirits hovering about them. They 
beckon the departing from earth to mansions 
above. They smile upon them, and the reflection 
of angelic joy is seen in the brightening counte- 
nance, as nearer and nearer they approach the 
confines of the eternal world. Do you suppose 
those gathering companions for the soul on its jour- 
ney upward are evil spirits? How repugnant to 
every rational, generous sentiment of the heart is 
such a supposition ! Yet, if your objection be 
valid, — if none but evil spirits come to us, if 
none but such can commune with man, — then 
they are such. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 51 



TENTH OBJECTION. 

** SUCH STRANGE, INCOMPREHENSIBLE DOCTRINES ARE GIVEN BY 

THESE MANIFESTATIONS, SO DIFFERENT FROM THOSE I 

HAVE COMMONLY BELIEVED, THAT I DENY 

THEIR HOLY ORIGIN." 

Here, again, comes with much force the com- 
mand, " Try the spirits." As I have before said, 
there are deceiving spirits, and they go about to 
deceive. You should therefore " watch and pray." 
You must not take all for truth. Good and true 
spirits are cautious, and are generally reluctant 
about answering questions which are hid in the 
deep mysteries of God. On the other hand, evil 
spirits will answer anything. They profess to 
know all things, and to have no limit to their 
understanding. For my own part, all doctrines not 
coinciding with those of the Word of God I en- 
tirely disavow. When such are given, it is time 
for us to be cautious how we proceed, and to what 
extent we rely for truth on the communications. 
Good spirits invariably commend us to the Bible 
for our rule of faith and practice ; though they may, 
from the fact of being able to see beyond the scope 
of our vision into futurity, give other interpreta- 
tions of some portions of it than those we have 
believed in, yet never do they so alter the meaning 



52 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

as to affect the standard truth of the doctrine 
involved. 

Place not, then, your confidence on anything 
else than the divine revelation contained in " the 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament." Try 
the spirits by the test of the Bible, and you will 
soon know whether they be of God. 

The " New York Observer" has given to the 
wings of the press a statement, apparently greatly 
exaggerated, judging from the violent language 
used, in which this holy subject is called "a stupid 
imposture ;" and then mentions an account of a 
sad affair said to have recently taken place by the 
"direction of the spirits." But what does this 
fact, backed up with any amount of abuse from 
its excited narrator, prove ? Why, simply this : 
that the victims of the case did not obey the scrip- 
tural injunction, to try the spirits whether they 
were of God. They rushed headlong against truth 
and reason, — against every sense of justice, and, 
above all, against the Bible, that great safeguard 
of humanity, — and they suffered. Should the 
subject suffer through their indiscretion ? Certainly 
not. But it does; and Christianity suffers through 
the wickedness of its professors ; but neither one 
nor the other can be destroyed. 

In this connection, I cannot do better than to 
adopt the language of an honest and intelligent 
writer upon the subject. " Proclaim nothing, en- 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, 53 

dorse nothing, accept nothing, as from the world of 
departed spirits, which, in the full exercise of en- 
lightened reason, you cannot confidently defend as 
such. This is my ground. I advise you to make 
it yours. There is enough of glorious and blessed 
revealment in these manifestations to rejoice in, 
and be thankful for, without retaining anything 
that is spurious or equivocal. And the signs of 
the times are auspicious of a hastening future, 
when the present twilight dawnings of spiritual 
communication will sublime into the full effulgence 
of day. May the waiting and anxious expectants 
of that day do nothing to retard its advance, or to 
dim its morning sky with a single unpropitious 
cloud!" 



ELEVENTH OBJECTION. 

" IP THESE ABE THE GOOD SPIRITS OP THE DEPARTED, WHY DO 

THEY COME IN THIS WAY, AND MANIFEST THEIR PRESENCE 

BY RAPPING, TIPPING, AND SUCH LIKE 

DEMONSTRATIONS ? " 

I do not know why it so; it is enough for me to 
know that it is. There are myriads of facts I 
know to be true; why they are so I do not know, 
neither can I know. These manifestations are not 
all of the kind to which you allude. The manner 
of communicating is rapidly advancing to a higher 
order. At first, it was by rapping; then, by moving. 
5# 



54 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

In the course of time we had written communica- 
tions, and of late they have been received orally 
from spirit-friends. But, admitting, for the moment, 
what is not true, that rapping and tipping are the 
only indications of their presence, and that it is 
through these modes alone they communicate to us, 
what more gentle or less terrifying manner could 
they adopt ? You say now that men become in- 
sane. What might be expected, if- spirits rose up at 
every corner, and at times unexpected, to greet us 1 
How would you have them come? and, besides, 
will you undertake to instruct God, and tell him 
how to carry on his dealings with us ? If you 
believe not these manifestations of the spirit, I fear 
you would not believe even though one rose from 
the dead. 

Take the truth as a fact, and question not its 
wisdom. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do 
right? It -may be foolishness to men, yet "God 
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- 
found the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak 
things of the world to confound the things which 
are mighty ; and base things of the world, and 
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, 
and things which are not, to bring to naught things 
that are; that no flesh should glory in his sight." 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 55 



TWELFTH OBJECTION. 

"IF THESE ARE SPIRITS, WHY HAVE THEY NOT COME BEFORE? " 

Can you prove that they have not ? I know 
that I can prove they have, and I have in these 
answers frequently alluded to this point. But, 
even supposing they have not (which is rather an 
inconsistent supposition for one who believes the 
Bible to bring up), is that any reason why they 
should not appear now ? The world was never so 
far advanced in knowledge as now. Mankind, 
generally, have never been so free to examine, so 
inclined to liberal and candid views, and they have 
not, consequently, been in a condition to receive 
these great truths. In centuries past, the world 
has known in part, and prophesied in part ; but 
now that which is perfect is come, and that which 
is in part shall be done away. 

In the history of mankind you will find fre- 
quent allusions to visions of spirits, and intercourse 
with them. In every nation and tribe, Christian 
or heathen, the fact stands out in bold relief, — 
there is a spirit-world, and we are closely allied to 
it even in this. Think over your own experience, 
and you will bring to mind some incident you have 
seen or read of inclining to a spiritual origin. 
Every neighborhood has its tradition of some 



56 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

spiritual manifestation. The sublimest strains of 
all poetry embrace the idea. The Bible is full, 
Nature is replete, with the truth. It cannot be that 
this universal belief — this sameness of thought, 
pervading every nation peopling the globe — is 
founded upon nothing ! Look below us. Every 
grade of existence has some connection with that 
above. The lower races of animals see and have 
a means of intercourse with the higher ; and shall 
man, who is but a little lower than the angels, find 
a barrier to his aspirations, as his mind strives to 
ascend and commune with an intelligence higher 
than himself? Never ! The early history of man- 
kind, before the dark ages, answers, Never ! An- 
gels, a mighty cloud of witnesses about us, would 
sound in our ears their united response of u Never,' 7 
if man would not stop his ears, close his eyes, 
and roll himself up in the garments of superstition, 
bigotry, and unbelief. 

These manifestations are partly new. They are 
new in directness of appeal ; new in being of a 
more personal nature. Yet this "newness" is not 
caused by any increase of power in the world of 
spirits, but an increase of light and knowledge 
among mankind on the earth. 

The error and superstition which have shrouded 
our world in worse than Egyptian darkness have 
served as a barrier between us and the spirit-host, 
and millions upon millions of our fellow-men have 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 57 

labored on, encompassed about with a great cloud 
of witnesses ; yet some looked down to earth and 
grovelled among its cares, and others threw a veil 
over their faces ; others were blinded through un- 
belief; and so the blessing hovering above them 
was not seen, save by a few, and those few were 
looked upon as visionary enthusiasts. 

But a better day has dawned ; the clouds of the 
long, long night are dispersing, and light is break- 
ing amid the darkness. Ask not why you do not 
receive a blazing sun, instead of a glimmering star. 
Be thankful, and rejoice that that star has risen. 
It is the precursor of a noonday light. 



THIRTEENTH OBJECTION. 

"WHAT GOOD RESULT WILL THESE MANIFESTATIONS PRODUCE?" 

The mass of evidence in proof of the good pro- 
duced by these manifestations is so great, that I am 
at no loss what to present that will, in the brief 
limits of these "Answers," meet this objection. 

The most important of these results is that men 
have been led to a fixed belief in their own im- 
mortality. It will not do for us to say that, with- 
out these manifestations, they had sufficient proof 
on this point ; for we do know that, with all the 
proof which overwhelmed us with evidence of 



58 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

an immortal existence, they, and many others, 
doubted its truth. 

If, then, by these manifestations, one mind has 
been led to adopt as its belief this great and cheer- 
ing truth, is not the rescuing of that one mind from 
the darkness into which it had fallen a fact of 
sufficient importance to urge us to say, " God 
speed them on their glorious mission " 1 

Of the many instances of conversion from infi- 
delity, and reformation of character, which have 
taken place, I have room for but a few. 

Under date of u Pittsjield, N. H., Sept., 1852," 
a correspondent writes as follows : 

" For the last six and a half years I have fol- 
lowed the occupation of pedler, in this state. I 
have sold without any regard to truth ; and, during 
that time, I learned to play cards for money, and 
lost in money six thousand dollars, and in time 
four thousand dollars (if time can be reduced to 
dollars and cents), and became in my belief 
nothing but a professed Atheist, — doubted the 
existence of a God, and, consequently, did not 
believe in any revealed religion. I had, in my 
travels, seen a v number of spiritual mediums, and 
believed it all to be a humbug, and had once gone 
so far as to deceive professed believers, making 
them believe I was a writing medium, although I 
could not produce the rap, but I supposed it was 
done by electricity." 

In September, 1852. the writer of the above was 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 59 

visited by spirits, between one and two o'clock in 
the morning. Of that visit he writes thus : 

" I cannot give any description of my feelings ; 
but it seemed as if I was in a new world ; and the 
first thing that came into my mind was, There is a 
God ; and the next, There is a spiritual world, and 
we must exist hereafter. Then all was calm, and 
I was happy, though I had been miserable before. 
They then told me, in a loud whisper, what to do. 
First ,to quit playing cards ; next, to stop peddling, 
and go to school." 

They next directed him to certain persons who 
would assist him in disposing of his stock, and 
obtaining an education. He closes as follows : 

" I firmly believe it was the spirits of departed 
friends that produced this great change ; for I have 
turned a complete somerset, and am now a new 
man. I will go to school till I spend what little 
money I have, which is about five hundred dol- 
lars." 

Another writes from Butler. Pa. y as follows : 

" I was raised a rigid sectarian, but, having a 
peculiar organization, I claimed the right, long 
before arriving at my majority, to do my own 
thinking, on religious matters particularly." 

He read in the Bible that, in olden times, God 
manifested himself by his spirit, and many won- 
drous things were done in his name among men ; 
that angels walked and conversed with them. 
But, as none of these things were acknowledged 



60 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

to have taken place since that time, he discarded 
the Bible, and with it, his belief in the existence 
of a God. 

"For," says he, "I reasoned thus: — If there is 
a God, he is wise and just, and knows that his 
creatures are wandering in error. If he does not 
manifest himself to me, I cannot believe, and he 
knows it ; if he wishes that I, and such as I am, 
should believe, he will manifest himself again, if 
he ever did before ; for infinite wisdom changes 
not, and he is said to have communed willingly 
with creatures heretofore ; he has the same will 
now, if he exist at all. 

"Not seeing any manifestations in the time, as I 
thought, of man's greatest need, I concluded there 
was no God, — that man was mortal, and died to 
live no more. The belief was gloomy, to be sure ; 
but I loved truth, and thought this must be true. 
I have not witnessed these manifestations person- 
ally, but the thousands who have seen, and do 
believe, have raised a hope that God exists, and 
that man is immortal ; I feel anxious about this 
matter, — and why should I not? I, who, by the 
light of Revelation, could see nothing beyond this 
short, unhappy life, but thick darkness and eternal 
oblivion. 

" May I not hope that mediums, who are well 
developed, will travel and enlighten the dark 
places?" 

From Parish, Oswego Co., N. Y., a correspond- 
ent of the "Spiritual Telegraph" writes as fol- 
lows: 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 61 

" I have been a Materialist. I believed, when my 
material organization ceased to act, that my mind 
would sleep that sleep that knows no waking ; but 
still my motto has always been to 

* Seize on truth, wherever found, 
On Christian or on heathen ground;' 

and so, I have been reading everything I could get 
on these new phenomena. I own it has caused 
my Material castle, which, I supposed, was built 
upon the God of Nature's own adamantine rock, 
to tremble to its base, while undergoing analyza- 
tion in this invisible crucible." 

Another, writing from Crawfordsville, Ind., 
says : 

" I have been an infidel fourteen years. lam 
now a firm believer in the immortality of the soul. 
I am worth but little of this world's goods; but, if 
you could place the wealth of your State at my 
disposal, on condition that I would give up what 
knowledge I have, and relapse into the state I was 
a few years ago, it would be no temptation to 
me." 

At a sitting of several clergymen for the purpose 
of investigating this subject, the following com- 
munication was received : 

" Brethren, have you not seen the need of a tan- 
gible manifestation to convince the sceptical man 
of his immortality] How many have refused 
to enter the portals of a church, who would not 
refuse (prompted by curiosity) to investigate 
these rappings ! Then rejoice that God, in his 
great mercy and loving-kindness, has permitted 

6 



62 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

ministering angels to knock at the door of the 
sceptic's heart, to awaken him to sensibility." 

Do you now ask what good will this subject 
produce ? We have, in ages past, separated the 
spirit from the word. We have sent out the reve- 
lation of God without accompanying it with the 
spirit which knoweth all things, maketh all things 
plain, and instructeth the ignorant and those that 
are out of the way. We have closed our ears, and 
would not hear the voice that speaketh from 
heaven. And, though reading in the Bible that 
communings with the angels were vouchsafed to 
us, and were enjoyed in those holy days which 
ushered in the advent of Christ, and Christ him- 
self told us to expect such things,* yet we 
have groped on, choosing paths of our own, by 
interpreting a passage in one way, while others 
gave it a different meaning : refusing the light that 
shone from heaven, until now, so confused, various 
and contradictory, are the views and opinions of 
the religious world, that that world has become a 
Babel, which, by the incoming of these manifesta- 
tions, or rather by the awakening of the human 
mind and the opening of the understanding, seems 
about to be destroyed. Soon will the prophecy be 
fulfilled, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen." 

Then shall the inhabitants rejoice, and from the 
rivers to the ends of the earth shall be written, 

* Mark 10: 17. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 63 

"holiness to the Lord; 5 ' and there shall be one 
Faith, one Hope, one Baptism. 



FOURTEENTH OBJECTION. 

* { WHY ARE SOME PERSONS MEDIUMS, AND NOT OTHERS ? WHY 
NOT ALL ? " 

I doubt very much whether there are any per- 
sons who are not mediums, in a greater or less 
degree. If there are any, it is because their minds 
are so formed as to preclude the possibility of 
being sufficiently influenced by that unseen power 
which is requisite for their development. 

Many are strongly prejudiced against the sub- 
ject. They would suffer through fear, were any 
approach made towards the point of their becoming 
mediums. Spirits, in most cases, act through or 
upon the mind of the medium. It will be seen, 
therefore, that, in order for them to develop a per- 
son as a medium, the mind must be passive, and 
willing to surrender its strongest powers to spirit- 
ual influence. There must also be harmony of 
thought, peace, quietness, and an entire absence of 
perplexing cares. 

This state is not, however, in all cases, abso- 
lutely necessary. It is not important when the 
power which the spirit brings to bear upon the 
individual mind is sufficient to overcome the will 



64 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

and inclinations of that mind. This is shown in 
the numerous instances which exist in which a 
person becomes a medium, without any special 
desire of his own. 

The very fact that we cannot become mediums 
at our pleasure, — that some are mediums who 
have had no particular wish to become such, while 
others who have ardently desired, and earnestly 
used every endeavor to obtain the gift, do not 
receive it, — is an evidence of the truth of me- 
diumship, and proof-positive against the objec- 
tion, that the Will produces the manifestations. 
Could any one become a medium by merely wish- 
ing to be, you would then bring the objection in 
another shape, and that previously urged, of the 
reaction of the human mind, might possess some 
plausibility. 

When the cloud that now overshadows the pub- 
lic mind in regard to this truth shall have passed 
away, and the veil that is before the face of the 
people is removed, — when prejudice surrenders its 
rule, and pride of opinion descends to humility of 
thought, — then mediumship shall be as free as the 
air we breathe, and each will become a partaker 
of the blessing. 

In the mean time, let those who have share 
with those who have not. Let no complaining 
mind ask, " Why am I denied the gift?" or say 
there is no wealth in the world because he is poor 
and in want. Hope, trust, and wait ! 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 65 



FIFTEENTH OBJECTION. 

"THIS SUBJECT LEADS TO SCEPTICISM, AND A NEGLECT OP THE 
BIBLE." 

, Here is an objection of a very serious nature. 
If true, it would at once condemn the subject be- 
yond the least hope of redemption. But, fortu- 
nately for the truth, and quite the reverse for its 
opponents, it has not a shadow of support, and it 
can only be made through gross ignorance. Read 
the answer to the thirteenth objection, and look 
for a moment, at the great inconsistency of this 
charge. Here are men holding intercourse with the 
spirits of the departed ; they have received abundant 
evidence, and they as much believe that the spirits 
of their friends are around them as they do that 
they themselves exist. Now, can you believe such 
men will doubt the soul's immortality 1 In a full 
belief of spiritual intercourse, does not their faith in 
the Bible become stronger 1 Here I cannot employ 
more suitable language than that of a writer 
before quoted, Rev. Adin Ballou, whose " Expo- 
sition" of this subject is full, plain and explicit, 
and to which I would refer you for facts and 
authentic incidents connected with spiritual mani- 
festations. 

"Is it likely that one who has seen doors open 
and shut, heavy substances moved about, and a 

6* 



66 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

human body upborne, without mortal contrivance 
or effort, will believe less that Christ walked on 
the water ; that an angel rolled away a great stone 
from the sepulchre ; or that Peter was released from 
prison by a spirit? Because one has seen lights 
and appearances of flame, caused, as he verily 
believes, by spirits, will he have less faith that the 
angel of God manifested himself to Moses in a 
burning bush, or that tongues of fire sat on the 
apostles at the great spiritual manifestation of 
Pentecost? Shall one hear all manner of sounds, 
caused by spiritual agency, even to a thundering 
roar, which shakes the whole house, and therefore 
grow more sceptical about the thunders of Sinai, 
or the c great noise, as of a mighty rushing wind,' 
and shaking of the house where the apostles 
prayed '? Shall one be convinced that spirits can 
actually write on paper, wood and stone, with pen- 
cil, pen, &c, and therefore have less faith that a 
mighty angelic spirit inscribed the decalogue on 
tables of stone, and reached them forth, out of a 
thick cloud, to Moses '? Will men, who are sure 
they have conversed with the spirits of departed 
friends for hours, therefore doubt whether Moses 
and Elias conversed with Jesus on the Mount? 
Anti-Bible scepticism does not thrive on such 
nourishment. Neither does irreligion and immor- 
ality gain strength by the almost uniform religious, 
moral, and reformatory communications made in 
connection with these manifestations." 

Some who make this objection will say that 
none of the communications received are above the 
capacity of the human mind, and employ this, 
which they deem a fact, as a proof that they do 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 67 

not come from a higher state of existence than our 
own. We have the Bible, — is not that sufficient? 
Supposing we did receive something far beyond 
what the human mind can produce, might there 
not then be some reason to fear an invasion of the 
right of the Scriptures? But no; nothing will 
ever be received that will displace or supersede 
that great revelation from God to man. We may 
not receive any startling disclosures. No secrets 
will be revealed that are not laid open in the 
Bible. We shall probably receive much light on 
that book, but nothing will be added. Passages 
of scripture, that have appeared dark and incom- 
prehensible, will be made luminous, and their 
meaning made plain to every mind. 

The spirits invariably tell us to " search the 
Bible," to "study its truths," to "love it, and 
take it as our guide." There can be no neglect of 
the Bible by those who examine this subject sin- 
cerely. It will lead them directly to that fountain 
of truth. They will become deeply interested in 
those higher revelations, the truth of which is sub- 
stantiated by those they are daily receiving. And 
how comforting and cheering is the thought that 
their friends are hovering about them, and making 
light, with the brightness of their presence, those 
paths that lead beyond the tomb ! 

A recent number of the "Puritan Recorder" a 
Boston paper, gave as an objection to spiritual 



68 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

manifestations, that they come, in many instances, 
to infidels. Thus, you see, objections come in 
every form, and from every direction. One fear- 
ing that Christians will be. made infidels, and 
another fearing, it would seem, that infidels will 
be made Christians. 

They object now, because these demonstrations 
of a spiritual existence come to infidels ! . To 
whom should they come, if not to them ? They 
come to convince of truth ; they come to open the 
eyes of the blind, — to open the prison doors, 
within which error has held its victims, — to un- 
loose the chains which unbelief hath made fast. 
Hundreds, doubtless thousands, of our fellow-men, 
who once disbelieved in the immortality of the 
soul, are now, through this instrumentality, re- 
joicing in the truth. God calls sinners, not the 
righteous, to repentance ; and if this mighty dem- 
onstration of his goodness, — this overwhelming 
flood of light, mercy, blessing and immortality, 
comes to destroy the barriers of error, and to dissi- 
pate the shades of unbelief, shall we use the fact 
as an argument against its truth ? Shall we not 
rather rejoice, and give thanks that these manifesta- 
tions are drawing the attention of thousands to 
Bible truths, and to a sense of their position as 
regards the things of time and of eternity, — that 
they are awaking slumbering thoughts, and en- 
livening all the highest and noblest emotions of 
the soul 1 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 69 



SIXTEENTH OBJECTION. 

" THE DOCTRINE OF SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE IS CONTRARY TO THE 

BIBLE. NOTHING OF THE KIND IS THEREIN RELATED, 

NOTHING PROMISED." 

Have you examined the Bible with a willing- 
ness to learn on this point? If you have, you 
cannot have failed to notice that the entire revela- 
tion of God rests on this very truth, — the truth 
of spiritual intercourse. God sent his holy angels 
to speak to man through the prophets. Was not 
that spiritual intercourse? Jacob beheld angels 
ascending and descending; and the Saviour said, 
"Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the 
angels of God ascend and descend." Do not these 
passages prove that man's vision may sometimes 
include spiritual beings ? Moses and Elias ap- 
peared ; and so cognizant was Peter of the fact, 
that he said, " Let us make here three tabernacles." 
Are you not convinced, by these and similar words, 
that the spirits of the departed have the power to 
be visibly present with man on earth? Let me 
remind you, also, of the angels seen at the sepul- 
chre, who appeared like men, and conversed with 
the women. St. Paul knew a man who was 
caught up into the heavens, and saw things im- 
possible for man to utter. Mark his words. It 
was not an "apostle," it was not a "prophet," 



70 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

but it was a man, — one like unto us. All these 
things were possible then, — they are possible now. 
Tell me, if you can, when God commanded them 
to cease. He never has. He never created a law 
of our being, and afterwards destroyed it. It has 
only been because ignorance has prevailed, that 
these things have not been. If suspended at all, 
it has been because man would not willingly and 
gladly receive the blessing. The world has not 
been sufficiently enlightened. The shadow of the 
dark ages even yet lingers upon the earth, but the 
sun of righteousness is rising, and those shades 
are becoming dissipated by its light. 

Read the account of that mighty spiritual man- 
ifestation at the day of Pentecost, when the apos- 
tles and others were all, with one accord, in one 
place. Just as these meetings are now conducted, 
with one accord ; with harmony, which is the ele- 
ment in which this intercourse can alone be carried 
on. " There appeared unto them cloven tongues, 
like as of fire." Similar appearances have been 
seen during these manifestations. The sign of 
"tongues" seemed to indicate what was to follow. 
" They spake with other tongues, as the spirit gave 
them utterance." They spake the language of 
every nation. Such manifestations have now ap- 
peared. Individuals entirely ignorant of every 
language but the English have spoken and written 
in French, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, Greek, and 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 71 

various others. As it was then, so it is now. 
'Some were amazed, and said, What meaneth 
this?" ''.Others mocked, and said, These men 
are full of new wine," insane or foolish. As Paul 
said then, so we say now : " These men are not 
drunken (foolish or crazy), as ye suppose; but 
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel : 
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your 
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your 
young men shall see visions, and your old men 
shall dream dreams." Do you say this reply of 
the apostle had reference only to that time, people 
and place 1 Read the 39th verse. " For the 
promise is unto you and to your children, and to 
all that are afar off." 

That day, there were added to the church three 
thousand souls ; the evidence of the truth of the 
apostle's words and mission was so plainly visible, 
that none could dispute it, and they admitted what 
they could not deny. It is so now. Men who 
have doubted the statements of the Bible now 
believe them. Wherever these manifestations go, 
infidelity departs. 

Those who say the Bible is against the doctrine 
of spiritual intercourse are sadly at a loss for pas- 
sages in proof of their assertion. There is one, 
and only one, on which they rely ; and that is a 
part of a law, long since annulled by the coming 
in of the new dispensation. They rest their 



72 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

assertion on Deuteronomy 18: 11, in which the 
children of Israel are told there shall not be 
found among them one who consulteth familiar 
spirits. If this passage proves anything, it proves 
that there were spirits who could be consulted. If 
you say the command to abstain from such inter- 
course is now in force, I can also say that the 
other commands contained in that code of laws 
and ordinances are also in force, and equally bind- 
ing. Here are a few : 

" If thy son be a stubborn, or a glutton, or a 
drunkard, thou shalt stone him to death.' 5 Deut. 
21st ch., 20th and 21st vs. 

" Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, 
as of woollen and linen together." Deut. 22d ch., 
11th vs. 

"Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of 
itself, but ye shall give it to a stranger." Deut. 
14th ch., 21st vs. 

Read all the laws and ordinances in the book of 
Deuteronomy, and know that, if the passage 
against spiritual intercourse is in force, all those 
commands and rules of action are to govern you 
to-day. But neither are now in force. It was not 
because such intercourse was bad that it was for- 
bidden; but the idolatrous nations had perverted 
the blessing, changed it into a curse, and their per- 
version of it had made it an abomination in the 
sight of the Lord. For the same reason were 
many other of those laws given. For instance, 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 73 

the command not to " wear garments of divers 
sorts." The mere wearing of the garment was 
not objectionable, but the nations from whom they 
were to come out and be forever separate made 
such garments signs or symbols of their idolatrous 
worship. 

' After a certain period, those laws and commands 
were to pass away with the time and circum- 
stances for which they were adapted. Men might 
wear what they deemed best, without regard to 
that injunction ; and mankind were subsequently 
taught that they were but a little lower than the 
angels, and might commune with them. All along, 
from Deuteronomy to Revelations, we have ac- 
counts of consultations with spirits ; of angels 
appearing and holding intercourse with men ; and 
we are commanded to desire such things, and dili- 
gently to engage in them. 

They are not only promised, but we are com- 
manded to seek them. And the command is as 
binding as that which tells you to " love the Lord 
with all your heart," to " obey your parents," or 
to "abstain from all manner of sin." If you 
annul one, you destroy all. If you remove one 
stone from the sure foundation which prophets and 
apostles and the good of all ages have built upon, 
you weaken the whole structure, and threaten 
destruction to our noble faith. But, weak, puny 
man, you cannot do this. So long as God's 
7 



74 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

throne endures, even so long will his truth con- 
tinue. 

St. Paul tells us (1st Corinthians 12th chapter) 
to desire spiritual gifts, and that these manifesta- 
tions are given to every man to profit. That these 
"gifts" are various, but the same God worketh 
all. Some receive "the gift of healing;" some of 
" prophecy;" some " the gift of discerning spirits." 
What does this mean, if not seeing spirits? That 
must be a strange gift of "discernment" which 
cannot see. To some, divers kinds of tongues. 
Read the 28th verse, and you will find the in- 
spired apostle saying that God hath set some of 
the recipients of these gifts in the church. Do 
you ask, Why not all? Just because there are 
evil spirits as well as good, and they who are 
controlled by them cannot be within the church. 
God hath set them there. Do you believe 
the Bible ? This is a Bible truth. Believe all it 
says. Believe this. Who hath driven them out ? 
Who hath made the temple of God a place of mer- 
chandise ? Who, throwing aside the apostolic 
command, say, " You shall not desire spiritual 
gifts ; these manifestations are ruining you ; they 
do not profit; they are the work of the Evil 
One"? O man, whosoever thou art, the Bible 
says, "Desire spiritual gifts," The Bible says, 
" The manifestation of the spirit is given to every 
man to pr&fit withal." The Bible says, "There 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 75 

are diversities of operations, but it is the same God 
which worketh all in all." Be careful how you 
judge. . Watch, lest ye condemn a holy thing ; lest 
ye charge God with folly. 

Paul tells you to "covet earnestly the best 
gifts." What gifts? Why, these spiritual gifts, 
such as he previously mentions. He tells you 
they are spiritual ; he particularizes them; and yet 
you will not believe, — the church will not believe. 
Some begin to believe the word of God, and to 
have a living faith in its promises; and what do 
you do? You call them "deceivers." You say 
they are led by the devil. You say they incline 
to infidelity! Who are infidel, but they who do 
not believe? The devils believe, and tremble at 
the power of the Almighty, whilst you disbelieve 
and are firm. 

In the 2nd verse of the 13th chapter, St. Paul 
says, " Though I have the gift of prophecy, and 
understand all mysteries;" implying that that gift 
enables its possessor to understand all " mysteries," 
that is, all that appears mysterious to those who 
are not spiritually discerned, in regard to the fu- 
ture state. In the 1st verse of the 14th chapter, 
he says, " Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye 
may prophesy." Showing that of all the spiritual 
gifts which it is God's pleasure to grant unto us. 
this one gift of prophecy, which he interprets as 
meaning the understanding of all mysteries, we 



76 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

should first seek after. In the 3d verse he says 
that those who have this gift speak to men unto 
edification. That gift is abroad in the world now. 
If you will heed it and listen, you may be edified. 
Why call these manifestations anti-scriptural, when 
every page of the holy Book is illumined with 
the glorious light they have shed 1 The Bible is 
a history of the manifestations of the olden time, 
interspersed with high and lofty communications ; 
and, though never again anything so holy and 
sacred may be vouchsafed, yet enough will come 
to comfort and bless us, and establish our belief 
and confirm our faith in that divine book of rev- 
elation. 

In the same epistle, the apostle says, "As in 
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive." You believe that ; then why not believe 
all that the apostle says. Do you reply, " I do 
believe all " ?■ Then read the entire sixteen chap- 
ters of the 1st of Corinthians carefully, consider- 
ately, and tell me, when you have risen from such 
a perusal, with God's word as your guide, whether 
spiritual intercourse is condemned. Is it not 
rather commended and commanded ? 

In conclusion, I would ask a moment's consider- 
ation of three verses, to be found in the 16th chap- 
ter of Mark, which read as follows : — "He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. * * 
And these things shall follow them that believe. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 77 

In my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall 
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up ser- 
pents ; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall 
not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, 
and they shall recover." 

You claim a fulfilment of the promise, if you 
helieve ; but, if I tell you you must believe that such 
signs as are promised must folloio as a proof of 
your belief, you turn aside and your faith staggers, 
and the belief you founded the hope of your sal- 
vation upon grows weak, and you say, "It is 
impossible. Such things cannot be ! " But let me 
tell you these signs are as certainly promised, if 
you believe, as your salvation is. 

Look not to your creeds, but rather look in your 
own heart. Con over its secrets. Count up its 
jewels, and see if, among them all, you find this 
glorious behest, — this last promise of an ascended 
Redeemer. 

O ye of little faith ! Ye have good things 
promised you. You are permitted to look into the 
world of spirits ; to gaze on brighter scenes than 
earth can ever afford ; but you let superstition 
blind you, prejudice shackle you, and the littleness 
and vanities of earth obstruct your view of the 
greatness and glories of heaven. The fact that 
you doubt this parting promise of the Saviour 
is caused only by your *want of faith, and your 
rising unbelief. Mark this : "He that believeth 



78 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

shall be saved." Believeth what ? Why, believ- 
eth the words of Him who came to save us. Not 
partly, but wholly. Not only believeth that he 
shall be saved, but believeth that these signs shall 
follow if he does believe. And what are these 
signs? They are just what are now taking place 
in our midst ; and lo, Bigotry raises its hand, and 
hurls its rusty weapons against them ; and Super- 
stition crawls back in its dark corners, and will 
have nothing to do with them ; and Public Opinion, 
that great bugbear of the human mind, looks with 
mingled scorn and derision on those who love the 
truth, and will walk in light. These three leaders 
marshal a mighty host. Come ye out from among 
them, and be ye separate ! 



SEVENTEENTH OBJECTION. 

" WE HAVE NO NEED OF ANY FURTHER REVELATIONS IN REGARD 
TO THE SPIRIT WORLD. THE BIBLE CONTAINS ALL THAT GOD 
HAS INTENDED WE SHOULD KNOW ; AND THIS SPIR- 
ITUAL INTERCOURSE IS AN UNLAWFUL PRY- 
ING INTO THINGS WITH WHICH 
WE HAVE NO CONCERN." 

After the answers already given to other objec- 
tions, but little need be said in reply to this ; for it 
is met in those. I have shown you that good 
spirits may reasonably be expected to engage in 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 79 

this intercourse, and that we have abundant reason 
to suppose that they do. I have also shown that 
the manifestations are productive of good ; that 
they lead to religious conviction, and a consequent 
attention to Bible truths. And lastly, but greatest 
of all, and a single truth that should silence all ob- 
jections, I have shown that, in every portion of the 
Bible, the subject is commended to our attention, 
and we are told to desire such things, and to seek 
wisdom from on high. Every page you turn sets 
you an example of spiritual intercourse, and every 
chapter you read directly or indirectly leads you 
to expect such things, and diligently to labor for 
them. And, as we take the Bible for our guide, it 
is our duty to follow as it leads, and to do those 
things which it commands. 

The Bible tells us of man as first of God's cre- 
ated works on earth. It says he is fearfully and 
wonderfully made, and next to the angels of 
heaven. This is about all it tells us of man as 
an inhabitant of this world. I am not speaking 
now of his probation here for a future life, but of 
man subject to the laws and requirements of 
nature. Shall we know nothing more? Shall we 
fold our arms, and when sickness comes say, " It 
is God's will ; the Bible says we shall all die, and 
this sickness is ordained for the accomplishment of 
that sin-created law of our being " 1 Shall we say 
so ? Shall we say that it was never intended for 



80 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

us to know how to stay the progress of disease ? 
for the Bible says nothing about it, — gives us no 
directions, and that contains all it is God's will we 
should know. Shall we conclude that to seek to 
know more than what ihe Bible says on this point 
is " an unlawful prying into things with which 
we have no concern " 1 

It is the object of the Word of God to reveal to 
us great and fundamental truths; truths on which 
others are founded. But it is left for the satisfac- 
tion of our boundless thirst for knowledge to look 
into, search out, and solve the great problems 
shadowed forth in that high revelation. 

The Bible tells us of man in general terms. 
Man himself is to find out. by actual experience, 
his physical wants, and the means with which to 
supply them. The Bible tells us of the earth ; but 
to us is left the task of studying out its form, its 
productions, and the laws that govern it. The 
Brble tells us of an immense creation, of lights in. 
the firmament of heaven, and of the stars; but 
centuries of ceaseless toil and close application of 
thought must man endure before he can begin to 
know the depths of its wonders. With the tele- 
scope he is to look above, and see worlds pursue 
their course, with an unerring precision, returning 
to a given point at a certain period. With the 
microscope he is to look at the dust beneath his 
feet, and the particles of spray that dance in 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 81 

beauty around the fountain, and find, even in these, 
worlds on worlds like Alps on Alps arise. 

What if you should say, "All this is wrong. The 
Bible contains all that God has intended we should 
know of man ; all we should know of creation ; all 
we should know of the boundless space above, and 
the living worlds beneath us; and this never-satis- 
fied endeavor to acquire further knowledge is but 
an { unlawful prying into things with which we 
have no concern. 5 " 

But you would not say so. You would not so 
insult your own immortal mind as thus to limit its 
aspirations, and deny it its sustenance. 

As with those matters just alluded to, so with 
this of spiritual existences and intercourse. The 
fact is given. The great general truth is stated, 
and we are to study out its bearings and its rela- 
tions to us in this state of our being. We are told 
of angels ascending and descending from heaven. 
We are told of spirits meeting Abraham. We are 
told of spirits talking at the sepulchre, and time 
would fail me to mention all the examples set 
before us for our instruction. The Bible is full of 
these great truths. Of man and science allusion 
is merely made, without any special command for 
us to seek further knowledge relating to them. 
But in this matter of spiritual life and intercourse, 
we are told again and again, and in the most ear- 
nest manner, to increase in knowledge, to be 



82 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

spiritually-minded, to investigate and search out. 
We are told to believe, and, as the result of this 
belief, to increase in spirituality, and intercourse 
with spiritual beings. 

We do not receive any "new revelations;" the 
manifestations are only in confirmation of the most 
important truths of the Old and New Testament. 
As to the Bible's containing all that God intends 
we shall know, the idea is not in unison with His 
holy word, which employs every incentive to urge 
us over the limitless ocean of knowledge before us. 
If we are to increase in a knowledge of things 
which are temporal, we certainly are to progress 
in a knowledge of things eternal. If our bodies 
are to be cognizant of earthly objects, our spirits 
are to be cognizant of spiritual beings. If we are 
to learn the wants of our physical natures, though 
we have no command, we are to learn that of our 
spiritual, for we have a command. 

How can you say we have " no concern " in the 
spiritual world, when it is to be our abode for an 
eternity of ages ? No concern ! Ask him, thy 
brother, just trembling over a grave, if he has no 
concern. Ask him, whose weeks of lingering dis- 
ease are about closing, whose eye sees, beyond this 
world, mansions that crumble not, if he has no 
concern in this matter. Let his answer be yours ; 
for his will be your situation, some time. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 83 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

It has been my purpose to answer objections, 
not to give a statement of facts. I could fill a 
volume with an account of what has taken place 
under my own immediate observation; of test 
questions answered to my astonishment; of the 
correct performance of tunes by unseen hands; 
of the writing of names on paper, placed, with a 
pencil, in a closed drawer ; and present copies of 
the most beautiful and cheering communications, 
of high and holy import, urging us to investigate, 
and promising increasing evidence of the truth of 
the subject. Such facts have transpired at my 
own residence, where every guard was placed 
against deception, and the subject, in its various 
phases, has been thoroughly tested ; but similar 
statements have been repeatedly published. I have 
endeavored to meet your objections with argu- 
ments, and induce you to examine and obtain facts 
for yourself. Such facts will be the most satisfac- 
tory to your own mind. 

What this subject requires is examination. 
Will you be independent enough to act for your- 
self, and judge from facts, not from exaggerated 
statements. Then I know that with you the truth 
will prevail. It is very easy for men to call it "a 
humbug," "a stupid imposture," " a delusion," 



84 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

'• a fanatical fever ;" but it may be difficult for them 
to prove it to be either. We should not be willing 
to take the mere "say so" on any subject, much 
less on one of such importance as this. The advo- 
cates of the spiritual theory of this subject are 
willing and anxious to support the position they 
have taken with proof; and it is no more than just 
that those who call it error should do the same in 
favor of their views. 

Every attempt to explain the subject in any but 
a spiritual way has signally failed of success. 
At first, men denied that the manifestations were 
produced at all ; then they attributed them to un- 
derground wires, and intricate machinery. Driven 
from these views, they next admitted, they were 
produced, and that no contrivance of machinery 
effected them. They heard the sounds. They be- 
held inanimate bodies, all at once vitalized as it 
were, move about, untouched by human hands. 
They read communications inculcating truth, and 
bearing evidence of a high order of intelligence 
What should they do ? They knew not; but yet, 
unwilling to come to the light, and, strange as it 
may seem, unwilling to believe what they could 
not deny, they fell back into a mist of ideas which 
had neither reason, nor justice, nor any such thing. 
They said they were caused by " something," and 
there they came to a full stop. But some go fur- 
ther and inquire. What is that " something " ? and 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 85 

such have found that " he who seeketh findeth, 



and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 

These manifestations are not confined to any 
particular locality, and in this fact we recognize a 
proof of their genuineness. No person or class of 
persons, no sect or party, can claim that they come 
exclusively to themselves. Free as the air to sus- 
tain our mortal life comes this truth, to give en- 
ergy and support to our spiritual life. 

Innumerable and convincing as are the proofs of 
the spirituality of this subject, very many profess- 
ing Christians will not even look at it. How often 
have I heard the subject mentioned, and one, 
claiming fraternity with truth and humility, smile 
deridingly, and, with the heart, if not with words, 
say, il Stand off, for I am holier than thou ! " 

Will you examine? Will you, rising above the 
world and its grovelling desires and ends, throw 
aside all superstitious fear of spirits, when you are 
so soon to join their ranks, and become one of 
them? 

Familiarize your mind with a subject with 
which your existence is so unalterably identified. 
Learn to live and act in view of the change which 
awaits you. 

'Tis a glorious faith which this subject opens to 

your mind. Adopt it. Make it your own. Death 

shall have no terrors ; for a mightier than he has 

conquered death, You shall but change your 

8 



86 SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

abiding-place. Like the weary traveller, you shall 
lie down to rise again. To rise, — not to the 
darkness of night, — not with the same cares upon 
you, — but, in the light of eternal noon, beside the 
refreshing waters of the river of life, you will con- 
tinue your journey, and walk on, unwearied, for 
eternal ages, through scenes of bliss and joys 
which are immortal. 

You will but leave one state for another ; and 
joyous will be the moment when the guardian 
spirits now hovering about you shall strike anew 
their golden harps, and lead you on till faith be- 
comes fruition, hope realization, and you become 
a full participator in those eternal realities which, 
by these glorious manifestations, through, the good- 
ness of God, they are now endeavoring to impress 
upon your mind ! 




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